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General Conditions of Carriage

The General Conditions of Carriage of KLM shall be applicable to passengers travelling on a flight or a specified flight sector, pursuant to a ticket on which KLM is designated as the carrier for such flight or a specified flight sector. KLM’s General Conditions of Carriage are available from KLM and its authorised agents free of charge.

Baggage

Special Services

Upon request and whenever possible, KLM will be pleased to provide you with special services on board that include special meals (intercontinental flights only), baby care and pet travel. These services must be requested at least 36 hours before departure. Passengers in Business Class and intercontinental Economy Class can also reserve the seat of their choice when they book their flight.

Check-in, reconfirmation and cancellation

Check-in time
Passengers have to present themselves at KLM’s check-in location and boarding gate not later than the time as indicated by KLM. Check-in times are different at every airport. Your journey will be smoother if you allow yourself ample time for check-in. If passengers fail to check-in or to present themselves in time at check-in location or boarding gate, KLM is entitled to cancel the space reserved for the passengers. KLM’s check-in times can be found at and downloaded from www.klm.com

Reconfirmation / Reservations
It is not necessary to reconfirm your KLM flight. However, other airlines may require that you reconfirm continuing or return reservations when you break your journey for more than 72 hours. We therefore recommend that you contact the nearest office of the individual airline, with which you hold a reservation. This should be done at least 72 hours prior to departure.

Change of your travelplan
If there is a change in your travel plans please inform your travel agent or the KLM office of your changes. Failure to do so could result in the cancellation of all onward and/or return reservations that have been made for you.

Taxes, fees and charges
Any taxes, fees and/or charges imposed by government or by municipal or other authority, or by the operator of the airport, or by KLM in respect of a passenger or the use by a passenger of any services or facilities will be in addition to the otherwise applicable fares and charges and shall be payable by the passenger to the extent they are not already included in the fare, even after the ticket was issued and/or after the passenger paid the ticket fare.
If you wish to cancel your ticket, you can request a refund of airport tax. Charges coded OA and OB will not be refunded. Carrier-imposed international surcharge coded YR and/or YQ will be refunded only if they involve a flight with a refundable fare.

Ticket changes and cancellations may be subject to administrative fees.

Denied boarding cancellation and delay

KLM takes all necessary measures to avoid delay, cancellations or denied boarding. However, in the event you are denied boarding, or your flight is cancelled or delayed for a minimum of two hours, KLM shall offer compensation and assistance depending on the specific situation. For more information on the conditions with regard to the compensation and/or assistance on flights departing from EU-countries, please consult the text in the leaflet “Compensation and Assistance ”. Information can also be found in KLM’s General Conditions of Carriage.

Advice to international passengers on limitation of liability

Passengers on a journey involving an ultimate destination or a stop in a country other than the country of origin are advised that the provisions of a treaty known as the Warsaw Convention may be applicable to the entire journey, including any portion entirely within the country of origin or destination. For such passengers on a journey to, from or with an agreed stopping place in the United States of America, the Convention and special contracts of carriage embodied in applicable tariffs provide that the liability on certain carriers, parties to such special contracts, for death of or personal injury to passengers is limited in most cases to proven damages not to exceed US$ 75,000.00 per passenger, and that this liability up to such limit shall not depend on negligence on the part of the carrier. For such passengers travelling by a carrier not a party to such special contracts or on a journey not to, from, or having an agreed stopping place in the United States of America, liability of the carrier for death or personal injury to passengers is limited in most cases to approximately US$ 10,000.00 or US$ 20,000.00.
The names of carriers, parties to such special contracts, are available at all ticket offices of such carriers and may be examined on request.
Additional protection can usually be obtained by purchasing insurance from a private company. Such insurance is not affected by any limitation of the carrier’s liability under the Warsaw Convention or such special contracts of carriage. For further information please consult your airline or insurance company representative.
Note: The limit of liability of US$ 75,000.00 above is inclusive of legal fees and costs except that in case of a claim brought in a state where provision is made for separate award of legal fees and costs, the limit shall be the sum of US$ 58,000.00 exclusive of legal fees and costs.
This is a Notice required by Order 69-2-65 of the U.S. DOT. It does not reflect the provisions of the Montreal Convention 1999 which may apply to your journey. No representation is made as to the accuracy of its contents.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the passenger could be subject to a more favorable liability regime. The applicable limits of liability for your journey on a flight operated by KLM, are as follows:

There are no financial limits for death or bodily injury of a passenger and KLM may make an advance payment, in proportion to the suffered loss, in order to meet the immediate economic needs of the person entitled to claim compensation;

In the case of destruction, loss of, damage to or delay in receiving baggage, KLM’s liability is limited to 1,131 Special Drawing Rights (approximately EUR 1,230) for proven damages. If the value of your baggage is greater than this limit, please be advised to declare a value for checked baggage in excess of the applicable liability limits at check-in or ensure that your baggage is fully insured prior to travel;

In the case of damage occasioned by delay in the carriage by air KLM’s liability is limited to 4,694 Special Drawing Rights (approximately EUR 5,100) for proven losses and costs.

If your journey also involves carriage by other airlines, you should contact them for information on their limits of liability.

This notice conforms to the requirements of European Community Regulation (EC) No. 889/2002.

Air carrier liability for passengers and their baggage

Disclaimer:
This is a notice required by European Community Regulation (EC) No. 889/2002. This notice cannot be used as a basis for a claim for compensation, nor to interpret the provisions of the Regulation or the Montreal Convention, and it does not form part of the contract between the carrier(s) and you.

The notice is inaccurate in stating that for damages up to 113,100 SDRs the air carrier cannot contest claims for compensation. Under the Regulation and the Montreal Convention the position is as follows: for damages up to 113,100 SDRs in respect of death or bodily injury caused by an accident on board the aircraft or during embarking or disembarking, the carrier cannot exclude or limit its liability except where there is contributory negligence. Also the limit of the air carrier's liability for baggage delays, destruction, loss or damage to baggage is 1,131 SDRs in total for proven losses and costs unless the passenger made a special declaration of a higher value at check-in or has purchased additional insurance.

Air carrier liability for passengers and their baggage
This information notice summarises the liability rules applied by Community air carriers as required by Community legislation and the Montreal Convention.

Compensation in the case of death or injury There are no financial limits to the liability for passenger injury or death. For damages up to 113,100 SDRs (approximately EUR 123,000) the air carrier cannot contest claims for compensation. Above that amount, the air carrier can defend itself against a claim by proving that it was not negligent or otherwise at fault.

Advance payments
If a passenger is killed or injured, the air carrier must make an advanced payment, to cover immediate economic needs, within 15 days from the identification of the person entitled to compensation. In the event of death, this advance payment shall not be less than 16,000 SDRs (approximately EUR 20,000).

Passenger delays
In case of passenger delay, the air carrier is liable for damage unless it took all reasonable measures to avoid the damage or it was impossible to take such measures.
The liability for passenger delay is limited to 4,694 SDRs (approximately EUR 5,100).

Baggage delays
In case of baggage delay, the air carrier is liable for damage unless it took all reasonable measures to avoid the damage or it was impossible to take such measures. The liability for baggage delay is limited to 1,131 SDRs (approximately EUR 1,230).

Destruction, loss or damage to baggage
The air carrier is liable for destruction, loss or damage to baggage up to 1,131 SDRs (approximately EUR 1,230). In the case of checked baggage, it is liable even if not at fault, unless the baggage was defective. In the case of unchecked baggage, the carrier is liable only if at fault.

Higher limits for baggage
A passenger can benefit from a higher liability limit by making a special declaration at the latest at check-in and by paying a supplementary fee.

Complaints on baggage
If the baggage is damaged, delayed, lost or destroyed, the passenger must write and complain to the air carrier as soon as possible. In the case of damage to checked baggage, the passenger must write and complain within seven days, and in the case of delay within 21 days, in both cases from the date on which the baggage was placed at the passenger's disposal.

Liability of contracting and actual carriers
If the air carrier actually performing the flight is not the same as the contracting air carrier, the passenger has the right to address a complaint or to make a claim for damages against either. If the name or code of an air carrier is indicated on the ticket, that air carrier is the contracting air carrier.

Time limit for action
Any action in court to claim damages must be brought within two years from the date of arrival of the aircraft, or from the date on which the aircraft ought to have arrived.

Basis for the information
The basis for the rules described above is the Montreal Convention of 28 May 1999, which is implemented in the Community by Regulation (EC) No. 2027/97 (as amended by Regulation (EC) No. 889/2002) and national legislation of the Member States.